


Just For Her

by twdsunshine



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 13:55:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14570445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twdsunshine/pseuds/twdsunshine
Summary: When Negan has a bad day, there’s only one thing that can make him feel better and remind him why he continues to fight.





	Just For Her

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request sent in by @negans-wife on Tumblr, just a really cute little fluff piece! I loved writing Negan’s soft side for a change so I hope you like it.
> 
> ‘Imagine Negan coming back to The Sanctuary after a long stressful day and he’s really pissed off and his attitude immediately changes when his little girl (2 at most) comes toddling out of a room with hair as dark as his in tiny pig tails, wide hazel eyes and a storybook in her hand. Negan can never reveal his dark side to the most precious thing to him in the world. He scoops her up in his arms, chuckling proudly as she calls him “da-da”.’

The slamming of the door behind him echoed through Negan’s quarters, and he slumped back against it, letting Lucille swing down from his shoulder so that the rounded end of her barrel thudded against the floor.  He felt tense and frustrated, and the rage that was churning inside of him needed an outlet.  Striding across the room, he hefted the bat, taking aim at an abandoned bottle of whiskey that stood on his desk and sending it flying through the air.  It smashed against the wall in an explosion of glass and golden liquid, showering the paperwork piled up and waiting for his attention in droplets of liquor, but it did little to satisfy him.  Shit, he didn’t even know why he bothered anymore.  Couldn’t anyone understand that he was trying to fucking save people?  Every single person alive in the Sanctuary and its outposts were surviving because of him, because of the system that he put in place.  It was working.  It had been working.  And then Rick the prick and his band of merry fucking men had to try and fucking ruin everything!

They didn’t wanna be saved? Well, that was just fine by him. He’d kill the whole fucking lot of them if that’s what it took.  He’d tried his usual tactics – he’d made examples out of an unlucky few, he’d tried to negotiate… Hell, he’d even made Rick’s kids fucking spaghetti, but none of it seemed to be enough, and now too many of his men were dead.  Good men.  Men with families.  It had all been going so well.  The trash bitch had given him the heads up on the ambush he was walking in to and he’d gotten Rick and the boy on their knees, and then out of nowhere, a fucking tiger!  He shook his head now, still shaken up by the appearance of the beast as it pounced on his men, ripping them apart like they were helpless prey.  He couldn’t have expected that, no way on earth that he could have seen it coming, and it had left them on the back foot, fighting for their lives. Retreating.  

If there was one thing that Negan hated, it was feeling out of control.  That wasn’t a new thing.  He’d been the same even before the world went to shit.  When his wife got sick…  Hell, he’d never felt so powerless in his whole damn life, just watching her wither away a little more each day while he tried desperately to keep functioning, to keep going. If it hadn’t been for…  Well, he didn’t think he’d have even bothered to crawl out of bed every day.  But it wasn’t just his life he was responsible for.  All of this, everything he’d built, was to ensure that he had a legacy, something to leave behind when the worst happened.  Because it would happen.  It was the one thing in life that was still a fucking guarantee. Death.  He would die.  He’d come too damn close a few times since Alexandria had flashed up on his radar, and he needed to know that he was leaving behind something stable, something solid, something safe.  A place where a life could be built and lived as normally as possible.  He thought he’d achieved that, until Rick came along and tried to take it from him.

With a growl, he flung his lean body round, driving his fist into the wall, wincing when something in his hand let out an agonising crack.

‘Ermm, Negan?’  A hushed voice from behind him made him jump, and he span to see Amber scrutinising him from the doorway that led through to his bedroom.  ‘Everything okay in there?’

He let out a stifled growl, angry at having his outburst interrupted.  Did she really think this was a good fucking time?  Why the fuck was she even still here?  Surely she should be back in the wives’ quarters now, where she belonged, her duties for the day long done.  It was late after all.  He opened his mouth to tell her exactly that but was silenced by the soft pad of tiny feet, before a pretty little face peered around his wife’s legs, little fists bunching up the black material that fell to the middle of her babysitter’s thighs.

Negan couldn’t fight the smile that curled up the corners of his mouth as the big hazel eyes watched him warily, every last ounce of tension leaving his body at the sight of her mirroring his grin, her uncertainty disappearing as he visibly relaxed.  He dropped to a knee, carefully laying Lucille on the floor behind him, before reaching out his arms.

‘Well, hello there, princess.’  His voice was gentle, not the gruff snarl that he used to keep his Saviors in line, or the seductive purr that he reserved for his wives.  No, this was a remnant from a life he used to live, where he was just Daddy and she was the only one expecting anything from him.  ‘What are you still doing up?’

She shrugged clumsily, a giggle burbling up from her chest as she stepped out from behind Amber and began to toddle towards him.  He looked to his wife for clarification.

‘She just wouldn’t settle,’ Amber explained.  ‘She napped for too long this afternoon, I think, but she’d been screaming her little lungs out since you left so I didn’t wanna wake her.’

Negan nodded, turning his attention back to the little girl that was now nestling against his chest, scooping her up in his arms so he could lever himself upright, burying his nose in her soft curls and inhaling deeply.  ‘Did you miss Daddy, huh, kiddo?  Daddy missed you, too.  Yes, he did. Daddy missed you a whole lot.’

‘You want me to clear that up?’ Amber asked, gesturing at the broken glass that littered the floor, but he shook his head.  

‘Nah, I got it.  I just… It’s been a bad day.’

She nodded.  ‘I figured.’

‘Did I scare her?’ His grip tightened on the warm body he was cradling, feeling her chubby fingers fondling the collar of his leather jacket.  ‘I thought she’d be sleeping.  I didn’t know…’

‘I just told her you had a clumsy moment.  She’s fine.’

‘I don’t want her to see that side of me.’

‘I know.’

He hated that one of his wives was seeing him in this vulnerable state, and yet it seemed to be happening more and more often now, the two sides of himself becoming so extreme that there seemed to be no middle ground, no normal anymore.  He was either Negan the head Savior, ruthless and feared, or Negan the father, soft and gentle, with eyes only for his daughter. She was the only person in his whole world who wasn’t afraid of him and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.  He knew one day she’d realise what he was, what he’d become to keep her safe, but for now she was still his baby.  

‘Dada hurt?’  He glanced down to see that she’d twisted round and was staring down at the hand that held her close, pouting at the blood that seeped his battered knuckles.  

‘Ahh, Daddy’s alright,’ he reassured her, pressing a soft kiss to her temple.  ‘Nothing a cuddle with my girl won’t fix.’

She patted his injuries softly, an intense look of concentration furrowing her little brow, before happily declaring it, ‘All better!’

‘Thank you, sweetheart.’ He bent to place her back on the floor, making sure to move clear of any shards of glass that might pose a risk.  ‘Now, why don’t you go find a story, huh?  Daddy’s gonna get cleaned up, then he’s gonna come and read to you ‘til you fall asleep.’

She beamed up at him before disappearing back into his bedroom, and he felt his shoulders slump, missing her already though he knew she was just metres away.

‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Amber nodded, heading for the door.  ‘Goodnight.’

‘Goodnight, Amber,’ Negan called after her, grateful that she’d stayed, that she’d shielded his daughter from the worst of his temper.  ‘And thanks!’

It wasn’t ideal, leaving his daughter with one of his wives whilst he went out with his men, trying to maintain his authority, keep his communities in line, but then life was far from fucking ideal these days.  One of the main reasons that he’d assembled his harem was to ensure that his little girl would always be cared for.  They had other uses too, of course, but a set of ready and willing babysitters was something he couldn’t live without.  

With the screams of his men still echoing in his head, he stepped into his room and closed the door on the rest of the world, watching as his daughter waved a book in his direction.

‘This one, Dada!’

‘That one again, princess?  Didn’t we just read that one last night?’

‘It’s my favourite.’

There was such pure joy on her sleepy face that it took Negan’s breath away.  Shrugging out of his jacket, he took the book from her and dropped down onto the bed, stretching out his arm so he could wrap it around her and draw her close, chuckling proudly when she tucked herself against his side, her little hand reaching out to turn the first page.  In moments like this, quiet moments, just him and his girl, he knew that every battle, every death, every painful second of survival was worth it just for this.  Just for her.

‘Once upon a time…’


End file.
